


In the Blink of an Eye

by MiscellaneKas



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Developing Friendships, FFVII canon timeline? I don't know her, Gen, Sane Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII), Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:56:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29959908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiscellaneKas/pseuds/MiscellaneKas
Summary: Cloud had gone from a SOLDIER wash-out to mako-fied in the half-second it took for him to blink. Everything began to spiral from there.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 64





	In the Blink of an Eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And it begins...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! This is my first fanfic in this fandom. And as usual, it is entirely self-indulgent and entirely too long. Regardless, I hope you enjoy my spin on the 'Cloud Time Travels and Has an Absolutely Baller Time Committing Arson' genre.

They are relaxing in the lower-ranked rec room in Shinra headquarters when it happens. Zack is standing in front of his months long friend Cloud, delivering line after witty line in an attempt to get more than a shy chuckle out of him. Cloud does his best to be stoic, too embarrassed to let on that he truly thinks Zack is funny. Zack knows he does though, has been able to read him since he managed to pry that stupid infantry helmet off of him a week into their friendship, so Cloud’s outward reaction doesn’t matter so much.

“You know you think I’m funny,” Zack ribs with a wink. Cloud rolls his eyes, but the way he purses his lips gives away he is holding in a laugh. 

He looks sideways at Zack. “Maybe,” he says.

At the admittance, Zack chortles like a schoolboy, crowding into Cloud’s space and trying to wheedle more of a confession out of him.

“But I’ve always been told I have bad taste,” Cloud finishes, cutting off Zack’s victorious laughter.

Zack growls in mock offense. “Why you-” Zack reaches forward, mussing Cloud’s rat’s nest of a hairdo. He does it so roughly that he manages to sway the kid from side to side.

“Hey- Stop!” Cloud winces his eyes shut, taking a few steps away to escape. Then he opens his eyes, and the jovial mood drops to the floor and shatters.

Zack’s heart stops when he catches sight of his eyes. One moment, he had been joking with his friend. In the next, in a literal blink, he is gone, replaced by someone else. The eyes that glance up to meet his own, are not Cloud’s soft, sky blues, but grayer, like a shallow pond on an overcast day. They are weary and old, their true age reflected in their depths, even if the face they belong to cannot be a day past fifteen. More shocking and damning, than all of that, however, is the glow of mako lurking around the blacks of his pupils.

“...Cloud?” Zack questions.

Cloud stares up at him, as if frozen, dazed. He blinks again, a slow fluttering of soft blonde lashes over those terribly old eyes before he looks up. “Zack…” he whispers. It hangs in the air between them like a plume of smoke.

Then Cloud takes two wavering steps forward and collapses into Zack’s chest. Zack fumbles him with a curse, dropping to his knees. Cloud lays limply against him, head hanging between his two shoulders as Zack wrestles him upright. “Cloud? Buddy?” he asks, giving Cloud a little shake. The kid doesn’t respond, doesn't even react.

When he looks up, he has the attention of a few other cadets. They spare the two of them a glance, before looking away. “Ah,” Zack stutters, “Ah-ahahahaha… Wow, Cloud! You really overdid it!” He continues to chuckle unnaturally as he pulls one of Cloud’s arms over his shoulders, wrapping an arm around his thin waist. When they stand, Cloud doesn’t move to help, thoroughly unconscious. “Don’t worry, guys!” he says to everyone in the breakroom who definitely aren’t worried, “I’ll get him to medical!”

With that, he edges out of the room, taking refuge in the hall outside. He manages to maneuver Cloud’s limp form into his lap. The boy lays splayed over Zack’s thighs, expression slack, hair falling away from his face. Zack presses a hand to his chest, feeling his heart beat slow and steady underneath. Then spares a moment to watch him breathe, deep, easy breaths passing through slightly parted lips. It looks as if Cloud merely decided that Zack’s lap was a good place for a nap.

Swallowing, Zack cradles Cloud’s head in one hand. Using the other, he pries one of Cloud’s eyes open, peering at it. There, swimming in the depths of an ash-tinged pool lurks the green glow of mako, troublingly bright. Only the eyes of SOLDIERs and far-gone junkies glow like this, Zack knows. He also knows that Cloud was neither of those things as of three minutes ago.

“Alright, Spike. I think that’s a bit too weird for medical…” he mutters to Cloud. If he took him to medical, at best he would end up in a holding cell, probably expelled from Shinra. At worst he would wind up a test subject if the rumors held true. He shivers on Cloud’s behalf.

Making his decision, Zack tosses Cloud over his shoulder. He stands and then sprints towards the Soldier First class residential floors. He takes the stairs to avoid as many witnesses as possible. Not many people know Cloud, but nearly everyone knows Zack, and word would spread quickly of him spiriting a petit cadet away.

He arrives at his apartment after a blur of stairs and truly impressive feats of stealth, one of which included vaulting a desk to avoid the gaze of a dozing secretary. He stands in the center of his apartment, breathing heavily, with Cloud still hanging limply over his shoulder. “Come on, man. Can you just wake up and be normal and make my life easier?” he pleads, jostling Cloud. The kid doesn’t even stir.

Zack makes for the bedroom, shutting the curtains quickly and slapping the light switch hard enough to crack the wall. The light flickers on regardless, and Zack gently lays Cloud out on the bed. He is unresponsive the whole way, face slack, eyes closed and mouth hung slightly open.

Zack checks his pulse first, pressing fingers against the artery under Cloud’s jaw. His pulse is just as easy and untroubled as before. Likewise is his breathing. Then comes the moment of truth, deciding whether or not Zack will well and truly freak out, now in the privacy of his apartment. He reaches forward, prying one of Cloud’s eyes open, then the other, examining the irises critically. No matter how long he sits and stares, nothing erases that tell-tale ring of light around his pupil, and the eerie luminescence of his eyes. It glows, barely-there under the bright fluorescent light of Zack’s apartment, but glowing all the same. The fact that he can still make it out in the bright lights of his apartment proves this is more than an optical illusion.

Cloud has gone from a SOLDIER wash-out to mako-fied in the half-second it took for him to blink.

Zack sits back on the balls of his feet, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. “What the hell, Cloud…” he mutters. He rockets upright, walking quickly out of the room, making a lap around his living room, and then back into the bedroom. Cloud remains unchanged, unconscious on his bed.

He pinches himself. It hurts, and Cloud doesn’t disappear. He makes another lap, for good measure, and when he returns, Cloud is still there.

He has no idea what he is going to do. 

He stands in front of his front door, peering out through the small peephole. Finding no one, and feeling oddly relieved, he walks to the living room window, closing the shades and curtains for that as well. With the apartment plunged into relative darkness, aside from the light leaking from his bedroom, Zack drops into a squat and stays there. 

When he feels a bit less like his heart is going to burst out of his chest, he comes back into the bedroom. He freezes, still half in the dark. Cloud is sitting up. At first, he gazes dazedly around the room, but when Zack works up the courage to enter the doorway, his eyes snap to him. Zack stiffens, caught like a bug under the pin of Cloud’s newly luminous gaze. He looks Zack up and down, brows furrowing ever so slightly. His face folds, eyes glimmering wetly as his jaw muscles work. “Zack…” he chokes. The sound is full of both joy and mourning.

Zack tries not to let that voice get the best of him. He marches right up to Cloud, hands on his hips and expression stern. “Who the hell are you, and what did you do to my friend?” he demands, towering over Cloud. The shadow he casts over the kid only serves to emphasize those eerie, mako bright eyes that Cloud definitely should not have.

“Zack… what-“ Cloud begins to say, but Zack speaks over him quickly.

“Are you some kind of ghost?! Are you possessing him?” he demands, stomping his foot, “Leave Cloud the hell alone!”

“What…?” Cloud mutters. He stares up at Zack. He looks as much in disbelief as Zack feels. “Y-you’re the ghost…” he whispers, reaching up to him, fingers hovering just over his chest like if he touches Zack, he will disappear. 

Zack smacks his hand away. “Is this mind control?” Zack snaps. He moves forward, and clamps both his hands on either side of Cloud’s face, making the kid flinch hard and stiffen. He ignores it, staring deeply into his friend’s eyes. “Are you in there, Cloud? Can you hear me? Don’t worry, I got you!” he shouts. He isn’t sure if volume will make him any easier for Cloud to hear, but it’s worth a try.

The thing hiding behind Cloud’s face scrunches its nose at the noise. He places both his hands on Zack’s, slender fingers trying to pry them away. “Zack… please,” he says, “This isn’t funny.” He tries to struggle away, but is unsuccessful. 

“Am I dead?” he asks when Zack refuses to let him go, and struggling proves futile. “Is this what this is? Where’s Aerith? I heard her with you.”

Zack’s own nose wrinkles at the name. “Who’s Aerith?” he asks. 

The Cloud imposter freezes, staring at Zack with wide eyes. His face pales, and the mako flares brightly with the horror in his eyes. He swallows with effort, audibly dry before he looks away. He gives another hurried glance around the room. His breathing is quick, heart pattering against his chest. “Your apartment,” he says quietly. He looks to Zack. “It’s real?”

“What do you mean, ‘it’s real’?” Zack questions, then quickly backtracks. He can't get lost in the false Cloud's false terror, even if the pulse pounding quickly through his veins sounds real and the way his fingers clutch at his pants is so uniquely _Cloud_ that it's hard to look away. “You didn’t answer my question… er… questions! Are you a ghost? Whose Aerith?!” he repeats.

“She loved you. I met her,” the imposter says, looking through Zack, “We tried to save the world together and then...” Cloud’s eyes refocus, a little furrow making its way between his brows like he is trying not to cry. Zack takes a moment to really look at him. The way Cloud holds himself, curled up, shoulders towards his ears. The way he hides his feelings behind a stiff lip and a furrowed brow. His eyes still hold that malleable quality, like a turbulent storm, even if they now glow. Cloud has always spoken with his eyes and his body, a language unique to only him. Call Zack stupid, but he doubts a ghost could mimic that, at least not quite to this level of perfection. He takes a hesitant step forward, only to be pinned in place by Cloud’s desperate gaze.

“Zack, please. Am I dead?” he begs. He swings his legs over the side of the bed, standing quickly. His knees fold under him like wet noodles, and he would have hit the floor if not for Zack’s quick reflexes. He catches Cloud around the middle, holding him steady as he clutches at his head with a breathy groan. “What’s happening…?” he mutters, leaning heavily against Zack. He is radiating heat now, more than normal.

“That’s what I’d like to know, Spikes,” Zack says, his temper gentled by Cloud’s vulnerability. Cloud didn’t show this side of himself to anyone. The times when he did to Zack were all accidents borne from exhaustion or injury. “That’s really you in there, yeah?” he asks, just to be sure.

Cloud gives a weak nod, “At least I think so,” he mutters. He looks up. Now it is his turn to grasp Zack’s face with both his hands, eyes roving over every little feature for what feels like an eternity. “You’re… different…” he breathes.

“So are you,” Zack quips. He pulls Cloud’s hands away from his face, and Cloud relinquishes his grip easily. His hands are trembling, and Zack carefully braces them against the kid’s chest. “Cloud, what happened to you?” he asks.

Cloud snorts as Zack helps him onto the bed again. “Right now? Or just in general?” he asks. He pushes away Zack’s hands as he continues to paw at him in concern.

“Both?” Zack questions, scooting ever closer to Cloud. The thought of him being mind-controlled has completely fled his mind. He knows Cloud, and while the eyes look impossibly older than the body, the mannerisms have stayed the same. This point is proven even more soundly when Cloud still tries to scoot away despite how unsteady he is. “Come on, Cloud. What happened? You were a fine, normal cadet, and now you’ve got mako eyes, and I know you haven’t been down to the labs.”

Cloud looks away, that furrow still firmly fixed between his brows. “I don’t know if you’ll believe me,” he whispers.

“At this point, I’ll believe anything,” Zack says honestly, “Try me.”

“First... tell me what year it is,” Cloud says with a heavy sigh. Zack’s gut twists, as he tells him and a look of profound loss overtakes Cloud’s features. “Well, first off, ten years from now, I get shot, and then… blown up. But there’s a lot that happens before that," he says haltingly. Zack settles in to listen.

When Cloud finishes his long story, Zack remains still, sat stiffly in the same spot he started in. His eyes are wide, there is the tangy taste of copper on his tongue from a hole gnawed through his lip, and he has a headache from clenching his teeth. 

According to Cloud, he dies, not too long from now, and he spends a majority of his remaining time locked in Hojo’s lab. Beyond that, Sephiroth of all people would be at least the partial cause of his and Cloud’s capture, Zack’s demise, and eventually that of the entire world. Sephiroth doesn’t succeed, not the first time at least, but the world doesn’t recover either. Long after Zack's death, Sephiroth's death, and Shinra's fall, Cloud continued to speak waveringly about something called Geostigma. It was an illness borne from Sepheroth's madness and taint that ate away at people until there was nothing left. It spread rapidly and was always fatal. Cloud talked about another set of clones, though he failed to mention where the first went. And his eyes go oddly distant as he wound his tale down.

“I got shot, and...” Cloud wavers as he speaks, “I died. I know I did. I heard yours and Aerith’s voices…” He grimaces and looks at the ground, something distinctly hurt in his expression. “She said I was too old to adopt.”

Zack lets out the breath he had been holding. It's a lot. Looking at Cloud, seeing the pain in his eyes, the guilt, loss, and loneliness that weaved through his voice, Zack feels regrets for things that haven't happened yet. Cloud fought a war with the sword Zack forced into his hands, not once, but twice. He wasn't a SOLDIER and had no hand in the unmaking of its members. Yet he battled against demons that weren't his to battle like it was his purpose. Fragile and lost, he carried another’s burden all alone. Not this time.

Zack forces it out. The regret and anxiety chased out with a deep breath and force of will. “Not anymore, eh?” he says, forcing a smirk onto his face, “You’re what, fifteen now?” The smirk becomes more genuine as he formulates his next words. “To hell with her. I can be your daddy if you want!” 

Cloud looks up at him sharply. “This is serious!” he snaps, but his cheeks have gone a touch pinker.

“I am serious,” Zack replies.

This earns him a hard shove to the floor. Zack takes it, laughing the whole way down.

“I forgot how much of an ass you were,” Cloud grumbles, crossing his arms and turning away.

“Hm… I must not have made a very good impression, then,” Zack says, “I’ll try harder this time.”

That gets a startled chuckle out of Cloud. The same shy smile, as if someone would tease him if they saw it, curls his lips. He sighs, and it disappears and Zack is sorry to see it go. 

“So you believe me?” Cloud asks, petulance forgotten in the face of desperation.

“What else can I believe?” Zack asks. At Cloud’s searching look, he shrugs. “I don’t wanna believe you, but I don’t see much other choice,” he says, “You blink and suddenly you’ve got SOLDIER eyes, Cloud. I don’t know who Aerith is, and I don’t want to believe Shinra would… would do us dirty like they did- do, but I've heard the rumors about Hojo, so…” He trails off, shrugging. “Better explanation than my ghost theory.”

Cloud stares at him, disbelieving. Zack snaps his fingers in his face. “Did you hear me? I believe you!” he says.

“I’m not even sure I believe myself,” Cloud mutters, blinking those bright eyes closed and then open again. The flush across his pale cheeks is still present, growing stronger since he began his tale, a feverish glaze to his eyes beyond the mako. Cloud huffs a sigh, leaning back.

“You… You’re reacting to the mako, aren't you?” Zack says quietly, “This isn’t your future body?”

Cloud glances up at him, then down at his hands. They still tremble, and all of Cloud is soon following suit. “I would look ten years older if it was my future body,” he says.

“Then… why’d you bring the enhancements with you?” Zack questions. He is quickly ramping himself up into a panic again. Beyond the freakiness of time travel, this is troubling. What if it was too much mako and Cloud became mako poisoned? How would Zack even explain what happened?

Cloud shrugs. “Don’t worry, Zack,” he says with a little half-smile, “It’s not that bad this time. I can feel it.”

Zack quiets. He feels dizzy with the realization that Cloud would indeed know what being dangerously exposed to mako felt like. “It’s still gonna suck,” he says, instead of crying.

Then there is a knock at the door, and Zack nearly jumps out of his skin. “Shit!” he hisses.

Cloud only looks over his shoulder questioningly. “You expecting company?” he asks calmly, as Zack begins to really panic.

“No!” he whispers, “Keep your voice down. This is the SOLDIER Second floor, whoever they are can probably hear you!”

He drops into another squat, this time holding the back of his neck and breathing slowly. “Do you think it’d be more suspicious if I don’t answer the door?” he asks, looking up to Cloud for some form of guidance.

Cloud shrugs unhelpfully. “I don’t know who it is, so maybe?” he says.

The knock at the door sounds again, causing them both to jump. “Well, they know we’re in here. It’s… It’s only as suspicious as you make it look,” he says in a way that sounds like it’s supposed to be reassuring, but only assures Zack that they are absolutely doomed.

“What am I even gonna say?” Zack laments, “I’m a terrible liar, Cloud! What if it’s a Turk?” Even Cloud looks a bit hopeless at that.

“Making them wait any longer will definitely make them suspicious,” Cloud reasons. He pauses for a moment, thinking, while Zack rocks back and forth on his heels. “Just tell them what happened. I passed out. I just have a little fever, so you took me here instead of medical.”

“Yes!” Zack shouts, “That’s exactly what I’ll tell them!”

Cloud is given only a minute to wince at his volume before whoever it is knocks again. This one is harder and more insistent. “Zack?” Angeal’s voice calls through the wood of the door. Zack gives his own wince. He doesn’t know what has brought him to this floor, but it can’t be good. He looks back at Cloud who nods towards the door, eyebrows raised expectantly.

“Coming! Just a second!” Zack shouts.

He shuts the bedroom door as he leaves, rushing towards the front door. He peers outside the peephole, seeing not only Angeal, but the very top of Genesis’s head behind him. Angeal stares directly at the peephole, clearly able to hear Zack’s footsteps near the door. Zack quickly unlocks the door, opening it wide enough for him to poke his head out. “Sorry! I was listening to music!” he blurts, “Didn’t hear the door.”

Angeal looks doubtful at that. Zack tries not to laugh nervously about it. “W-what can I do for you?” Zack says instead, cringing at his stutter.

“You seem a bit frantic, Zack,” Angeal says. Behind him, Genesis snorts. “We came here to check on you,” he adds, attempting to catch a glimpse of Zack’s apartment through the crack in the door. Zack swallows. He knows Angeal can see where the light from the bedroom leaks past the door frame, bright in the otherwise dark apartment.

“ _You_ came to check on him,” Genesis corrects. He gives Zack no warning as he reaches forward and forces the door open with the effortless strength of a SOLDIER First. He lets himself inside with a haughty strut. “I came to make sure we made it on time for our next meeting,” he says. He stands in the center of the living room, staring at the old take-out containers on the coffee table and the blanket crumpled on the couch with disgust.

“A mess as usual,” Genesis sniffs. Zack ignores him, trying not to bounce on the balls of his feet as Angeal makes his way inside.

“Wow! Angeal,” Zack says, a bit louder than is strictly necessary, “Genesis! Why’d you come to check on little old me?” He keeps his eyes trained on the two of them and not at all towards the bedroom door.

“We heard from a secretary that you were ducking and rolling around like a Wutai ninja,” Angeal says. He glances around disapprovingly at Zack’s mess, but doesn’t comment on it. “And we heard from some troops in the rec room that your trooper friend fainted?” he adds, casting an obvious glance to the bedroom door.

“Oh! Yeah!” Zack says, scratching the back of his head, “Yeah. He passed out. He just has a little cold or flu, or something. We didn’t want to bother the infirmary, so I brought him here to sleep it off.” He hopes the explanation comes off as casual, or at least logical.

“Doesn’t explain why you made a stealth mission out of it,” Genesis points out. He pushes the blanket to the side and sits on Zack’s couch.

“Well… you know… people talk…” Zack says weakly, “Cloud was worried about people judging him for getting special treatment, you know?”

Genesis rolls his eyes at that, but Angeal takes on a more concerned look. “Oh, that must be some cold,” Angeal says, “If he passed out, it must be serious, Zack. You should know that. Unenhanced people aren’t as sturdy as you think they are.”

“O-oh… you think so?” Zack says, glancing towards the door as well, “But Cloud said he was fine. Said he’d be better after a little medicine and some r&r.” 

Angeal sighs. “You should have still taken him to medical,” he says, “A trooper’s job is taxing. There’s any number of things that could be making him feel sick, not just a virus.” He gives Zack one of his disappointed looks, the one reserved for when Zack makes a particularly egregious mistake.

“I want to check on him myself,” Angeal says. He turns to make his way towards the bedroom door. “He just through here, right?” he asks.

“W-wait,” Zack yelps, stepping between Angeal and the door. “Cloud’s a little nervous about appearances. If a First comes and checks on him when he’s not feeling good, he’ll be embarrassed!” At least that bit was true. For someone who spent most of their life content with being invisible, Cloud was awfully concerned with the impression he left on the higher-ups. Mostly because there was always that small sliver of hope that he could reapply to SOLDIER.

Angeal shakes his head. “I think this overrides feelings, Zack,” he says gently. Before Zack can protest, Angeal has reached past him and opened the door. Zack spins on his heel, dreading what he will find. A mako-fied Cloud sat up in bed, staring at them with his wide and glowing blue eyes would spell disaster.

Instead, Zack finds Cloud’s boots near the window. Cloud himself is curled on his side under the covers. He has pulled them over his chin and nose, tucking his face into his chest, so that all that is readily visible is his tuft of blonde spikes. With how small Cloud is, it looks like a child snuggled down in bed. Zack can see on Angeal’s face the moment he makes a similar connection. His expression melts from worry into fondness. Angeal has always loved children, especially cute children. Cloud isn’t a kid, not technically, but he is cute. He is close enough that he tugs at Angeal’s heart, Zack supposes.

“Oh… he’s sleeping,” Angeal whispers. He takes a step back. “Let’s wait for him to come around.”

“Oh, please,” Genesis huffs, stomping past them into the room. “Cloud, was it? Get the hell up and tell Angeal you’re fine so that we can be on our way.” He says it in a loud stage voice so that it echoes off the walls.

Cloud twitches, then shifts, rolling underneath the covers. He makes slow progress onto his back, squinting up at Genesis. His hair sticks out in all directions, and there is a clear fever flush high on his cheeks. “Who the hell?” he mutters muzzily. Zack is almost frightened by how good Cloud’s act is. He looks like he has been dead asleep, and he even sounds a bit congested.

“Hey,” Angeal calls in a much gentler voice than Genesis. This draws Cloud’s slow attention to him and prompts an eye roll from Genesis. “We wanted to come check on you. We heard you passed out,” he explains, voice and eyes soft, “How are you feeling?”

Cloud’s sleep bleary facade breaks for a half-second, leaving clear befuddlement in its wake. By the time any of them have blinked, drowsy, sick Cloud is back. He gives Angeal a sour look. “Fine,” he says, nose wrinkled. He sniffs with effort, making to roll back over in bed.

“Wait a second,” Genesis snaps. His hand strikes like lightning, grabbing Cloud by the chin. He jerks him up, nearly out of bed, and stares directly into his eyes. Cloud grabs his bare wrist to support himself. “That’s mak- Argh!”

Before either Zack or Angeal can yell at him to put Cloud down, Genesis abruptly drops to his knees, clutching his shoulder. He breathes heavily, letting out a few thin whimpers. Angeal is immediately at his side. Cloud leans over the side of the bed, staring at Genesis with wide eyes, his sleepy act forgotten.

“You… you’re hurt,” Cloud says, eyes distant, “...sick…” His expression darkens, struck wide-eyed and horrified at his own words, hands fisting the blankets underneath him.

Angeal ignores him. “What’s wrong, Gen, talk to me!” he mutters. Without waiting for Genesis to reply, he strips off his jacket, then tears the collar of his shirt down to reveal a layer of bandages, soaked through with black. Another tug and his shoulder is bared for all to see. What comes to light is a horrible black mark, darkest in the juncture between his neck and shoulder. It climbs over Genesis’s shoulder, down his front, and disappearing behind his back. It is black as pitch, and wet with a viscous inky liquid. It sticks to Angeal’s fingers when he touches it, and Genesis cries out in pain.

The black mark moves, pulsing. Zack moves forward in terrified fascination, watching as the mark begins to melt into black liquid and drip down to stain Genesis’s shirt. It starts at the source, the wound dissolving outward from there to reveal pale skin underneath. In less than a minute, the entire thing has disappeared as if it were never there. Genesis lets out a strained breath and collapses into Angeal’s side.

Angeal braces him. “Genesis? Genesis!” he yells, giving his limp form a little shake. When Genesis doesn’t respond, he turns his attention to Cloud. “What’d you do to him?!” he demands, fondness replaced by betrayal.

Cloud stares at his own hands as they tremble violently. “I don’t know…” he whispers. His face is blank, but his eyes are wide. “That was… geostigma…?” he whispers, like saying the word will summon the awful disease into the room.

“A much more poetic name…” Genesis mutters, his face still pressed in Angeal’s shoulder, “Hollander called it degradation.” He sits up under Angeal’s careful assistance. They both spare a moment to run their hands over his blemishless skin. Then he uses his grip on Angeal’s shirt to right himself, rolling his shoulder. “But you would know better, wouldn’t you? You healed me,” he declares, shooting to his feet. Angeal follows him, continuing to brace him, but it looks unneeded. 

“I don’t know,” Cloud says honestly. His gaze runs over Genesis’s healed shoulder. The expression he makes is somehow pained. “There was never a cure before,” he explains. He squints, summoning information from a painful place. “Geostigma… It’s not a disease, really. It’s the body’s reaction to Jenova cells. Once you’re exposed, it will eat away at you until there’s nothing left, or you die. We could never figure out how it was triggered, or how to remove the cells,” he finishes. He looks to Genesis as if the man might have answers for Cloud’s own miracle.

“Jenova…?” Angeal asks, looking from Cloud to Genesis, “I’ve heard that name before… where…?”

“I’m sure you have,” Cloud says, derailing his train of thought, “Don’t believe anything you’ve heard or... hear. She’s an alien parasite, the Calamity. She has no plans to save anyone or anything and she won’t.” His gaze has gone distant again like he is caught in a memory. He blinks, and his eyes clear, though he still looks troubled.

Genesis nods along as if Cloud is speaking gospel. As he looks at Cloud, almost in awe, he keeps running his fingers over the sight of the wound. It is completely gone, not even a scar to mark its existence. His lips move as he recites something to himself, eyes still roving over Cloud’s form. “You… You’re the Gift,” he finally says, narrowing his eyes at Cloud.

“Uh…” Cloud looks helplessly to Zack, who gives a little shrug, helpless himself. “I don’t know about that,” he says.

“I know! For certain,” Genesis says, nearly manic with the rush of his discovery, “The gift of the goddess!” 

Genesis pushes Angeal away, standing without help, looking both brighter and healthier than he had before. His cheeks have regained the color Zack hadn’t realized they had lost, and his eyes are clearer. He grins at Cloud, all straight white teeth as Angeal continues to look between them. Leaving Genesis, he reaches forward, he hovers his large hand cautiously just over Cloud’s face, directing him to look up without touching him. Cloud does so, only to glare at him, after glancing at his hand as if it were a snake.

“...Those… are the eyes of a SOLDIER,” Angeal says, squinting down at Cloud, ignoring his poisonous glare, “You’re only a trooper. How did this happen?”

“...the bringer of life,” Genesis quotes as if that were a good explanation. He looks dreamily at Cloud. “The gift of the goddess,” he breathes, amazed.

Cloud moves away from Angeal, smacking his hand away, only to wither under Genesis’s eager stare. Zack doesn’t blame him. Angeal spares a look at Genesis, only to roll his eyes and run a hand down his face. Zack doesn’t blame him either. “Genesis, please. Now is not the time,” he groans.

Genesis ignores him. He strides forward, his jacket fluttering behind him as he falls to his knees before Cloud. He grabs both of Cloud’s hands before he can recoil, holding them reverently. “To become the dew that quenches the land,” he says, voice grave and soft, “to spare the sands, the seas, the skies…” He bows his head, raising both Cloud’s hands above his head. “I offer thee this silent sacrifice.”

The delivery is somber, weighty with commitment. Yet the words fall flatly into silence, even if they sounded for a moment like they meant something. Cloud looks uncomfortable. Angeal looks embarrassed. Zack can’t believe this is happening. 

“Did you just pledge your life to Cloud?” Zack chokes.

Cloud quickly snatches his hands away from Genesis at that. “I’m good, thanks,” he mutters. This only earns him a pleading look from Genesis. Cloud looks away quickly.

“Genesis, I mean it. Stop that,” Angeal says, pulling him roughly from the floor, “This isn’t the time to be joking around.” He turns on Cloud now, looking him up and down, taking in the pink high on his cheeks and the glazed quality of his eyes over the otherwordly glow of mako. 

“You’re actually sick,” Angeal says, wonderingly. He moves forward, pulls one glove off, and inches the palm of his hand towards Cloud’s forehead. Cloud wrinkles his nose and moves away from the show of concern from a stranger, but Angeal follows until Cloud has nowhere to go but off the side of the bed. His other hand comes to rest on Cloud’s back behind his shoulder blades to keep him from falling while the other slides under his blonde fringe. Zack holds his breath, expecting some kind of explosive reaction like with Genesis, but nothing happens. The moment lingers.

Cloud squirms. “You say you became enhanced within the last few hours?” Angeal questions, breaking the silence.

“That’s the story,” Cloud says reluctantly. He manages to slide out of Angeal’s hold, and Angeal lets him go without a fight. “Passed out, woke up, and suddenly I have eyes like Zack’s,” he finishes, scooting away from both the SOLDIER Firsts. He conveniently leaves out the bit about time-travel. Zack doubts it would go over well with Angeal anyway. 

“However you got it, you will start to feel seriously ill without help,” Angeal says sternly, “The mako could send you into a coma, or worse, it could kill you. I’m surprised it hasn’t done so already. We need to take you down to the infirmary right away. Zack should have done that to begin with.”

Cloud blanches so badly that even the fevered red of his cheeks flees. “I’m fine!” he barks. Then, a little less desperate, “I’m fine. I’d know if I wasn’t. If the mako was gonna kill me, it would have done it by now. You know that.”

Angeal looks hesitant. “Be that as it may, these are extenuating circumstances,” he replies. He rests his hands on his hips, staring down Cloud with the same look he gives Zack when he orders him to do more reps. “We don’t know if you will have a delayed reaction to the mako. We don’t know if your enhancements are safe!”

“Of course they’re safe. He’s blessed,” Genesis chimes in, “The infirmary wouldn’t know what to do with something so divine.” 

“Genesis. Stop,” Angeal scolds. It does nothing to cow Genesis at all. He smirks at him, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall.

Cloud huffs, looking between the two. “I don’t know anything about any blessings, but I know I’ll be fine. I know what too much mako feels like. This isn’t that,” he says. Angeal’s rightfully troubled look indicates Cloud’s impending doom.

“What do you mean, ‘you know what that feels like?'” he asks, his scolding tone sounds worried now. When Angeal is suspicious or angry, he may back down. Now that he is concerned, he will hound Cloud until he goes to the infirmary and gets a clean bill of health. Zack groans internally.

“I mean this isn’t my first time on the behemoth,” Cloud says flatly, “You said it yourself, this is an extenuating circumstance, what’s medical going to do about it?” He doesn’t wait for Angeal to formulate a response. “I’ll tell you what they’ll do. Once they find out I'm not a junkie, they’ll hand me over to the science department, and then they’ll do a bunch of tests, and when they can’t figure out what happened, they’ll kill me, lock me up, or keep experimenting on me. Probably all three.” He says it all in that same flat tone, matter-of-fact and emotionless. The intensity can be seen in his eyes, though. The blue is deep and intense, the depths of a storm-torn sea. It makes the ring of light around his pupil that much more intense.

“You can’t tell me I’m wrong. You’re not that stupid. Even Zack could figure out that much,” he says.

“Hey!” Zack calls, snapped out of his daze by the offense.

Angeal studies Cloud carefully. “They will find out eventually,” he says. It isn’t a threat, but it sounds like one anyway.

“No, they won’t,” Cloud says blandly, “I’m leaving.”

With that, he slides his legs over the side of the bed and stands. He makes it one step before his legs fold under him like wet noodles. If not for Angeal’s super speed, he would have fallen and cracked his head on the bedside table. Instead, Angeal catches him with a hand on his chest, steadying him.

“I’ll leave when the room stops spinning,” Cloud corrects. At least this time he looks more dizzy than in pain. Angeal glances up, fixing Zack with a meaningful look, then nods towards the door.

“Okay... We’ll let you rest, for now, then,” Angeal says. He winds an arm under Cloud’s legs and another under his back and lifts him like he weighs nothing. He deposits him carefully in the center of the bed, with his head resting on the pillows, before pulling the blanket up over his legs. Cloud watches him with clear confusion through the entire process, with a frowning mouth and furrowed brow. He doesn’t resist being tucked in though, or the hand that rests for a moment on his forehead. Angeal seems to have confused him into compliance. “Come on, Zack. Genesis,” he calls, withdrawing his hand.

“But I…” Zack begins to protest, but is forced to leave when Angeal grabs his arm and drags him out. “Cloud! Feel better!” he calls, glancing at the still befuddled blonde over Angeal’s shoulder. Genesis brings up the rear, still smiling, ever so slightly.

Once they are in the living room, Angeal lets him go. He lets out a long sigh and doesn’t speak for long enough that the air becomes tense again. He looks over Zack, then over Genesis, eyes hard.

“So that was Cloud,” Zack says as casually as he can, “Uh… normally he’s a little more… normal than that.”

“You’re certain this was sudden?” Angeal asks, ignoring his weak attempt at conversation. “You are absolutely sure that he wasn’t enhanced before he passed out?” The look he gives him is stern, sharp as the buster sword on his back, and just as weighty.

Zack shrinks under it. “Yeah,” he says, somber, “One minute we were joking around and the next he’s got SOLDIER eyes. I don’t know… I don’t know what happened.” That much is at least not a lie. “Cloud doesn’t either.”

“It’s simple,” Genesis says. He walks over to Zack’s couch and settle’s himself down, crossing his legs. His manic smile from earlier has mellowed out into a smirk, though his eyes are still bright and sparking with energy. “He is blessed. As I said, he is the Gift of the Goddess. Life, and light. Salvation in our darkest hour of need,” he explains.

“Even if it is… divine intervention,” Angeal says reluctantly, “We still don’t know how he cured you. We don’t know if he did a complete job of it. How do we know he isn’t infected himself? How about the rest of us?” He turns to look at each of them as he speaks. His tone is calm, but his expression belies his urgency. “As much as I hate to go against his wishes, we must take him to medical,” he finishes.

“We can’t!” Zack protests, stepping between Angeal and his bedroom door. “You heard Cloud. You heard what they’ll do! The science department will tear him apart trying to figure out what happened!”

“Just yesterday, you were singing the praises of the science department,” Angeal says, raising an eyebrow knowingly. “You were just telling me about how their scientific advancements were improving life for Midgar. What changed, Zack? Why suddenly all the suspicion?”

Zack flounders. What changed is that Cloud told him about how they tortured them and Shinra turned a blind eye. What changed is that he saw the way Cloud’s eyes went distant and pained and heard how his voice dipped and wavered. He saw the devastation on his face when he said the words, “They killed you.” Cloud wouldn’t lie about that, even if it was to save his own skin. Zack wouldn’t ever let him fall back into their hands if he could help it.

“Zack is right,” Genesis says. His smirk is gone, replaced by something darker as he glares up at Angeal. “Do you think I became ill overnight and kept it to myself?” Genesis asks. When no one replies, he snorts humorlessly. “Of course I reported my injury. Of course, I told them when it didn’t heal. I was told not to worry. Then Hollander pounced on me like a cat on a mouse caught in a trap,” he tells them, “When he approached me, he seemed awfully eager. Like magic, he knew what the problem was. He promised if I let him experiment on me… if I let him use me, he could cure me. Months passed… and here we are.” He waves his hand carelessly, tucking his chin towards his chest.

“We know Hollander specializes in our enhancements,” Angeal says, though his voice is weak, “Maybe he knew that the possibility existed-”

“And he said nothing,” Genesis interrupts. “Would that not be something we should know? That the mako that grants us such extraordinary strength could also rot away our bodies? That it could sap that strength, steal our sanity, and even take our lives?”

“We knew this was not without risks…” Angeal replies, but even he doesn’t sound convinced.

“You know, Hollander offered me an ultimatum after this most recent set of 'remedies' proved futile,” he mentions casually as if talking about the forecast, “If a transfusion from you didn’t work, he wanted me to defect from Shinra. Go with him and take as many people as would come with me.”

“What?!” Angeal shouts. It is probably loud enough to be heard in the hall. Zack swallows, as Angeal’s expression becomes livid. In his pocket, Zack’s PHS buzzes, unnoticed by either SOLDIER First.

Genesis remains calm in the face of Angeal’s rage. “I am just mentioning to make my point,” Genesis says, “It seems Shinra’s science department has neither the company nor its people as its highest priority. I would hate to bring someone as precious as Cloud into that.”

Angeal’s shoulders slump. His eyes dart over Genesis’s face, searching for something. Genesis meets his gaze, and for a moment they share a silent conversation Zack can’t quite interpret. Angeal sighs. “We need to speak about that later,” he says, finally, “But Cloud cannot wait. I’m sure there’s a way to protect him while we have him checked out. We can stay with him throughout.”

“Why must we hand him over at all?” Genesis complains. He smacks his hand on the couch arm, exasperated. “Shinra is ever so talented at squandering magnificence. There’s no harm if we keep our lips sealed. In fact, it would be a service to do so.”

Zack’s PHS buzzes again, once and then after a short pause, three more times in short succession. He looks down, pulling it out of his pocket and glancing at the screen. As Angeal and Genesis continue to argue, Zack pulls his PHS out of sleep to see five unread messages from Cloud. He opens the first.

“I’m going to head out,” it reads. Zack stares at the screen, uncomprehending. He scrolls down.

“I’m gonna ditch this phone. I know your number,” the second reads. Then the third reads, “Angeal seems like a nice guy, just dumb.” A laugh fights its way out of Zack at that. “Genesis is weird though,” the fourth one states. Zack can hear it in Cloud’s contemplative voice. “Can you give me his number?” the fifth one asks. 

“Why? You think he’s cute?” Zack questions, partially teasing, but also because he knows how Cloud used to get when the SOLDIER Firsts were mentioned. He really looked up to them, especially Sephiroth, but maybe there was a little something more to that.

“Ew. no,” Cloud types back, almost immediately, “He swore his life to me. Isn’t that coercion?”

There is a little bubble at the bottom of the screen, a chocobo feather pen dipping into an inkwell and scribbling before dipping back in. Cloud is still typing, so Zack stays his fingers for a moment.

“No. I wanted to talk to him about all that Gift of the Goddess stuff,” Cloud sends after a pause.

“Dude. Don’t you know Loveless? That’s a quote from it. He does that all the time,” Zack explains, trying not to laugh, even as concern wells in him. Cloud had mentioned his memory was bad, but not to what extent.

“Oh,” Cloud sends back. The ink pen scribbles for a few moments more. “Nevermind.”

“Btw, how are you going to get out? I don’t think I can get G and A to leave,” Zack texts curiously.

“Zack, texting while we are having a conversation is quite rude, don’t you think?” Genesis scolds him. Zack looks up from his phone to see Angeal frowning severely at him, hands on his hips. Genesis also looks righteously offended.

Zack looks back down at his phone as it vibrates in his hands. “Already out,” Cloud’s text reads. Zack’s stomach drops into his feet.

“Uh… guys… I think Cloud escaped,” he says, staring at his phone.

“What?!” Angeal snaps, rushing for the bedroom door. Zack is quick to follow. Though Genesis remains sat on his couch, chuckling.

Angeal throws open the door, and Zack weaves around his bulk into the room. The bed is still a mess, but there is no Cloud wrapped in the blankets anymore. His shoes under the window are gone. Zack’s navy blue curtains blow in the gentle breeze from the open window. The screen used to keep out whatever bugs might be courageous enough to fly this high is absent too.

“H-holy shit!” Zack stutters, rushing towards the window. “Did he jump?!” He shoves his head out the window, glancing around. It isn’t a sheer drop, a few meandering pipes, the tops of connecting buildings and balconies dotting the area under the window, but Cloud is nowhere to be seen on any of them. “Cloud!” he shouts, long and desperate.

Angeal shoves him out of the way and climbs out the window, dropping onto a pipe winding just under Zack’s window. “He might have gone this way. Stay there in case he comes back!” Angeal commands, stomping fearlessly along the pipe and around the corner out of sight. Zack backs away from the window until his legs hit the bed, falling onto it.

Cloud is gone. Cloud is mako sick and recently time-traveled and now missing. He could fall to his death from the piping and scaffolding outside the window. He could get caught by Angeal, dragged back, and tortured by the science department. He could be on the run forever, and Zack might never see him again. Zack feels sick

“Oh, this keeps getting better and better,” Genesis says, delighted. He is standing in the doorway, though it is clear he has no intention to help Angeal find Cloud. “Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess,” he whispers with another touch to his shoulder.

“With all due respect,” Zack breathes, staring blankly at his open window, “Shut up, Genesis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes on the timeline for those who care: Zack and Cloud technically don't meet until after Genesis and Angeal jump ship, but I'm here to be neither straight nor canon-compliant.
> 
> Also, feel free to drop a kudos or even a comment. They help make the words go, I promise.


End file.
